"The topics are very interesting for both math concentrators and people not really into it," said math concentrator Yannis Dosios '97. He said that the puzzles, the jokes and the history behind mathematical events were especially entertaining.

But others felt the contents of the magazine were too esoteric for the general reader.

"For somebody not studying math, it is probably not amusing at all because some of the material is either too trivial or too intricate for the non-mathematician," said Timothy S. Eller '98.

According to Vice President Sung Han Kim '97, "there was more reaction than expected." He said readers asked many questions and offered corrections for the second issue.

A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer check into a hotel. The proprietor, wishing to test out a theory, has each of their beds set on fire. One by one, the three arrive at their rooms and open the doors.

The engineer sees the bed in flames, runs into the hallway, finds a janitor's closet containing a sink and a bucket, turns the water on high, fills the bucket, and drenches the fire, in the process making a wet sooty of everything.

The physicist enters his room and sees the inferno. He pauses to make some rough measurements, runs into the hallway making order of magnitude calculations, finds the bucket, fills it with just enough water, and precisely pours it where it has the greatest effect, wasting little water and minimizing damage.

The mathematician takes note of the blaze, runs into the hallway, finds the cleaning closet, checks that the faucet is operating and the bucket is intact, runs back to the room to re-examine the fire, then says proudly, "Aha! A solution exists!"